Caged
by the.painted.glass
Summary: HP gender flip story. HP is taken away from the Dursley family by a mysterious pureblooded witch and raised within the magical community as a member, not an outcast. How will this change her life and decisions?
1. Animal, Revised

**A/N:** Thank you all for your fabulous feedback, here is a revised, final version of Chapter 1. Enjoy!

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><p><em>Caged, like an animal ought to be.<em>

Her thoughts rang clearly as she sneered at the small blabbering infant in disdain. What was she supposed to do with it? It wasn't hers - why should it be her responsibility to raise their mess? Her fingers slid over the roughened parchment as she smoothed the letter back into its compact form. She had read the words a thousand times over.

Her sister. Dead.

Her brother-in-law. Dead.

The creature they created, by some act of God, alive but in grave danger.

Brilliant green eyes blinked back at her from behind the holes of the worn plastic laundry basket she had placed upon the kitchen table. There was nobody else to take it from her, the letter stated clearly; however, she couldn't allow it to live in her home with her son and her husband. They were good, normal people and had taken great pride in being so. They couldn't even foist the baby off on an orphanage. If strange things started happening it would most certainly lead back to them. No, that wouldn't do at all.

She would need to bring it back. Someone in their world would have to want the child. She remembered that the husband had no family left after his parents had passed in their 7th year at that God forsaken school. Her sister had been quite distraught and demanded to be allowed to comfort him. Of course, her parents had allowed it and that was the last time she had seen her sister alive.

Their family didn't have any more abnormals as far as she knew. Despite its' displeasing nature, she wasn't about to dispose of the child to a random stranger; she was a better person than that. The woman wondered if there was a will and how she could obtain it; a will would have to have a list of suitable candidates for the thing.

Nearly as soon as she thought it a crisp envelope sealed in bright gold wax appeared before her on the table. She jumped and grasped at her chest in shock before trembling towards the new object. She glared at it as it seemed to giggle at her fear.

Carefully, as if defusing a bomb, she opened the letter.

* * *

><p>{The Letter}<p>

Dear Mrs. Dursley,

Per your request, the sealed will of you sister, Mrs. Lily Margaret Potter nee Evans, has been enclosed. Any further inquiry should be directed to the Will Executor office.

* * *

><p>She flipped the letter over, looking for a signature, but there was none. All she had to go on was the golden seal of two scales loaded with jewels and coins.<p>

_A bank perhaps?_

Mrs. Dursley wondered thoughtfully as she opened the second piece of the letter. It was a fairly simple single sheet of parchment with a list of requests written in her sister's tight, rigid script.

* * *

><p>{The Will}<p>

On the occurrence of my death I, Lily Margaret Potter nee Evans, do request by blood and magic the following:

All holdings, physical and financial, be passed on to my spouse, James Ignotus Potter. If he is unavailable by death, permanent physical malady, or divorce, all items shall be passed to my eldest heir, H.M. Potter. If my heir is made unavailable by death or permanent physical malady, my funds should be made available to Muggle and Magical charity equally.

If upon my death my heir is below the age of maturity and left without a parent she should be put under the care and guidance of the following individuals (in order of priority), health and acceptance permitting:

Sirius A. Black

Frank or Alice Longbottom

Aquila Bootes nee Blishwick

Under NO circumstances is guardianship to be given to:

Peter Pettigrew

Petunia Dursley nee Evans

Albus P.W.B. Dumbledore

Signed, May 18, 1981, Lily Margaret Potter Evans, Gringotts Bank Private Lounge

Witnessed and sealed, May 18, 1981 Grawgnaw, Gringotts Bank Private Lounge

* * *

><p>A smile lit Petunia Dursley's face for the first time since the basket of problems had arrived on her doorstep. She was in the clear! The thing wasn't even supposed to be allowed under her care nevermind expected. She would just contact the bank and they could handle contacting the other guardians candidates to get this sorted.<p>

Mrs. Dursley penned a quick letter addressing the bank and popped it into the post hoping that even without the address it would get to the senders of the will. She waited with baited breath for over a week.

A sharp knock was heard at Number 4 Privet Drive on the 10th of November. Petunia hastily stashed the creature and her basket under the table and behind the yellow checkered table cloth.

_Who could possibly be calling?_

She opened the door and was greeted with the sight of a tall, slender dark haired woman. Petunia eyed her expensive leather coat and pearl necklace greedily. Her guest seemed to be about 60, with piercing grey eyes that struck her face like a hot iron as she blushed in embarrassment to be caught gawking.

"May I help you, Ma'am?" Petunia greeted neutrally.

"I'm here to collect Helen." She replied easily.

"Who?" She replied dumbly. "I'm afraid there is no one here by that name."

The elder woman smiled and pulled out a long wand of ebony. Petunia's eyes widened as she hastily ushered the woman in before the neighbors could see the odd sight. Suddenly Mrs. Dursley found she was no longer envious of the woman's gems and clothing. Silently she picked up the basket from underneath the table and handed over the drooling, dirtied one year old.

With a short nod, the woman took the child and wrapped her close before disappearing with an audible crack. Petunia collapsed in relief, it was gone.

"Hush, little one." The black haired woman cooed at the infant, "This kind of behavior will not do and neither will this state of dress."

They had appeared in a large, open room delicately decorated in blues, whites, and purples. The floor was a deep mahogany with chairs and tables to match. To their right were four large windows looking out into an open field covered in a light snow. Behind them a large fireplace crackled with a warm flame.

The woman grimaced as she evaluated the babe in her soiled diapers and greasy wavy locks. The child had obviously not been cared for in the past week.

_Wretched beings, treating a child thus._

"Kippy." The woman's voice rang out and a small grey elf appeared before her. It's face was wrinkled and framed with wisps of grey and white. It's ears were large and floppy and across it's chest it bore a violet stained toga with silver embellishments.

"Yes Mistress Bootes?"

"Please tend to Helen here. Be gentle, I'm afraid she has had a rough start. When she is cleaned and fed, return her to me. I'll be in the library."

"Yes Mistress, Kippy will take good care of the little Miss Helen." The elf and baby disappeared with a soft pop.

The woman dropped her leather jacket to the floor to reveal a set of silver knee length robes as she headed into a room guarded by a large mahogany door flanked by two stone griffins.

The room was a quaint library with several floor to ceiling bookcases crafted in a dark ebony; their shelves were stacked tightly with many ancient looking volumes. The room had two large bay windows accentuated with deep purple curtains. The middle of the room had a large round table of purpleheart with a dozen matching chairs and a black velvet runner.

Aquila strode past all of this and settled behind a desk of obsidian stone and began to write a letter as she waited for the return of her new charge.

A brown tawny owl flew from its perch on the ledge of the library's window with a letter in claw as a small pop returned Aquila's attention to the center of the room. Kippy presented a much cleaner looking child and disappeared again with another small pop.

"Hello, love." She greeted Helen, who gurgled at her in response. "Let's get a proper look at you."

She held the one and a half year old away from her at arms length. Helen was fair skinned with dark curly hair that wisped around her ears and neck. Her eyes were framed by dark lashes which emphasized the brightness of her almond shaped emerald eyes. She placed the child on the round table.

"Hm." Aquila removed her wand from the sleeve of her robe, "Metiretur"

A tape measure seemed to shoot from the end of her wand and began to wrap around Helen's limbs and torso. Numbers seemed to shoot up like fireworks, which enamored Helen as she stared curiously at the sparkling delights.

"You will be tall, I think." Aquila told her as the measure disappeared. "Hardly surprising considering the stature of your parents and grandparents."

Aquila's eyes glossed over with tears as she thought of Lily. She couldn't believe her little fire flower was gone.

_Twenty-one; Far too young._

She remembered the day she had met the Potter.

* * *

><p>{Flashback}<p>

A red-headed woman clad in a dark brown robe walked through the aisles of a brightly lit book shop. There were hundreds of tomes scattered amongst nearly thirty bookcases with more teeming over in uneven stacks at the end of the aisles. She was so involved with the book she was reading she wasn't paying attention to where she was going and bumped straight into the shopping Aquila.

"Oh, I'm so sorry." The woman panicked as she picked up the book she had been reading from the floor. Aquila glanced at the title, Blood Magicks.

"That's a rather dark subject to be pursuing in public, Miss?" She replied with a small frown, the girl could be no older than eighteen. The woman blushed and hid it behind her back.

"Potter. Lily Potter." Lily stuck out her hand and Aquila grasped it lightly with her own.

_Muggleborn._ The witch concluded mentally as she considered her response carefully. The girl was obviously young and seemed to be somewhat clever if she was researching such a complicated topic. It was obvious the girl had also married into one of the oldest pureblooded families in England. Her house of birth, the Blishwicks, and her house of marriage, the Bootes, had long remained on neutral terms with the Potter family. However, they were not known as purveyors of dark magic by any means.

It is very curious a woman of Potter allegiance would find herself in a shop such as this.

They were currently in a grey magic book store located in a lesser known alley off of Diagon. Very few non-purebloods knew of its existence and even fewer light aligned citizens dared step foot in such a place. It was for those searching for abstract knowledge, forgotten arts, and forbidden ones. Aquila found the longer she thought about this Lady Potter, the more she found her intrigue growing.

"Aquilia Bootes." She replied evenly, "That book is sorely lacking in material. Honestly, I don't understand why they would even keep such filler nonsense in this store. A much more enlightening tome would be Heme Bonds by Vladimir the Unsullied."

"T-Thank you." Lily seemed to chew on her lip in thought for a moment before speaking further, "This may seem brash, but I suppose I've never been known for my subtlety," She paused and laughed awkwardly, "You seem knowledgeable about this branch of magic. Could I ask you some questions?"

Aquila nodded her consent and the young witch continued.

"Could this magic be used to protect someone from harm?"

What a silly question. "Yes, that is one of the principles behind it; to link one's life to the other in order to offer protection."

"Even if that harm was fatal? Supposedly unbeatable?"

"Well, I suppose it would depend. Death by curse, physical harm, poison?" Aquila questioned further.

"A curse." Lily seemed to collect her thoughts, "The killing curse."

Aquila choked on her thoughts for a moment. This was never something any witch or wizard had ever contemplated. In order to protect another being from death, they would need to give their own life. Blood magic couldn't be performed unwillingly so it would be impossible to use on somebody unwilling to die in return for the life of the other. Magical beings by nature, especially humans, thrived on secrecy and survival; they lived to maneuver ways to live longer and kill their enemies sooner.

"It would need some serious calculation, however it seems within the realm of possibility. Is this what you seek to do?"

Lily nodded.

"Alone?"

Lily blushed and nodded again.

"Nonsense, you must be absolutely mad. This would take a charms and arthimancy master at least a decade. You are only a child." Aquila explained sharply, "How do you plan to test it? I'm assuming you have never cast the killing curse and are aware of the toll that would take on the soul of a light magic user? Why do you think it is worth it to risk so much?"

Lily began to sob, "M-my husband. He's an Auror and Y-You-Know-Who has placed a bounty on his head. I'm worried he won't survive if I don't do something! He's been placed on desk duty for the next year in hopes that things will calm down, but I just know they'll send him back out there. I can't lose him. I won't."

Aquila questioned her harshness as Lily hastily wiped away her tears and picked up her book ready to run away.

"Wait." Aquila pleaded, her own voice becoming laced with emotion.

She had just lost her own husband to the Dark Lord. Nox had been a quiet man and a truly proper pureblooded wizard. Their only child, Pura - her sweet girl - had died in a Death Eater raid of one of the lesser Wizarding villages where she was working with the poor magical children. Nox had gone to investigate what happened when a second wave of Death Eater's came through to eradicate the town and all left living from the first attack. Her heart, still aching from her loss, made her stop the Potter woman.

"Let me help you. I know quite a bit about the old magicks, my birth family branches off from the house of Black."

Lily seemed hesitant.

"There is no way you will be able to accomplish this in time on your own, please. I know the pain of loss and I would wish it upon no one."

Lily nodded after a moment and they planned their meetings to develop a spell to save a life from certain death.

* * *

><p>That had been three years ago and judging by the scar on the poor child's head, they had been successful. Lily had given her life for her daughter, as Aquila had wished she had been able to.<p>

_I will give her the life you wanted, Lily. I will teach her as I did you._

Her gaze hardened and she lifted the child up and strolled out of the library with Helen securely in her arms.

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><p><strong>End Note:<strong> Chapter two in development. Please feel free to comment, follow, review, or PM!


	2. The Kraken

"Arms up, little miss." Kippy told the five year old toddler as she splashed innocently in the large marble tub filled with bubbles.

"Not now, Kippy! The kraken is attacking." She said seriously as she skimmed her hand along the surface of the bubbles, her other hand lurked underneath the surface and began to pull on the other.

"Helen." A sharp voice spoke from the doorway.

The child's emerald eyes grew wide and she instantly stood at attention the bubbles falling off her slippery torso, "Yes, Lady Bootes?"

"Why are you giving Kippy such a hard time? When she asks you to do something you will act as a proper lady and listen." Aquila scolded.

"Yes, ma'am." Helen turned to the small house elf who stood with a large scrub brush in hand, "My apologies, Kippy." She raised her arms and the elf continued to clean the little girl.

Aquila waited until Kippy had finished cleaning Helen, "As a punishment for your misdeeds, you will get out of the tub this instant and will help Kippy in the kitchen to prepare dinner."

"But!" The little girl protested. Aquila raised a hand and Helen's lips sealed.

"This is what happens when you don't listen and behave uncivilized. You know our rules." The elder witch affirmed before walking away.

Helen had tears in her eyes as the house elf dried her off with a snap of her fingers and emptied the tub. It wasn't fair she was being punished and it wasn't fair Aquila was so strict with her. She had only wanted to have some fun.

The disappointed look in her caregiver's eyes struck the young girl like a hot iron.

"Do you think she doesn't like me anymore?" The sniffling child asked.

"Mistress just wants you to be the best witch you can be. You has to start listening to the rules. She will always like you, you is like Mistress' own child."

Helen nodded with a determined look on her face, swearing to be on her best behavior as to not disappoint the closest thing she had to a mother. There were many rules to keep track of, but she was certain she could at least try to make things right.

Kippy had the young girl follow her into the kitchens that gleamed with copper, oiled cherry wood, and porcelain. A copper basin was filled with self washing pots and pans of all different shapes and sizes. The stove top was covered with bubbling concoctions that smelled of rosemary, thyme, and basil. Over the fire there roasted a large portion of red meat.

Helen could feel her mouth water at the sight of it all, her previous plight nearly forgotten. She was almost never allowed in the kitchen. Kippy handled all the cooking for Aquila and her charge, so there was never any need.

"You will help by taking this spoon," Kippy handed her a large wooden spoon, "And stirring the soup. You must go slowly and carefully so you doesn't burn yourself."

Helen stood at attention on a small stool that had been set by the stove with the single dark pot. Inside there stewed a mix of vegetables and spices in a rich beef broth. She stirred and stirred, sometimes counter clockwise other times clockwise.

Just standing there stirring was so boring and despite her best intentions, after about ten minutes her mind began to wander. She imagined riding a loud black broom device through the starry night sky. She had dreamt a few nights ago of some large furry creature guiding her through the air, but unlike most of her dreams this one had stuck in her mind. She remembered the creature smelled of oiled leather and earth.

The recount of her dream soon became boring to the little girl and she embellished the dream with tales of her and the giant furball, she had dubbed Franklin, swashbuckling with pirates and playing Quidditch. He seemed as if he would be a good pirate, although a clumsy Quidditch player.

However, in her distraction the soup had begun to bubble and spit from a lack of stirring. A small portion of the spitting soup burst from the pot and stuck itself to Helen's small fair colored hand. Instantly the flesh welled with red and began to form a small blister.

"Ouch!" The girl exclaimed and dropped the spoon to the floor with a loud clatter. The pot began to wobble dangerously on the stove threatening further harm to the child, but with a snap Kippy righted the unstable pot and calmed the churning liquid.

"Let Kippy see." The house elf cradled the small tearful child as much as her tiny body allowed as she looked at the now growing blister. She lifted Helen with a spell and placed the girl's hand under some cold water as she examined the injury. Helen winced at the feeling of the water rushing over her wound.

"Mistress will have to give you a potion for this." Kippy concluded.

"No!" Helen cried, tears running down her blotchy reddened cheeks.

"Doesn't it hurt? Wouldn't you like to feel better?" The house elf reasoned with the child.

"B-but, she will be upset with me again." Helen explained abashedly. She had failed on her mission to make up for her mistake. How could she have let this happen?

Kippy locked eyes with the young girl and shook her head gently. "Mistress will be disappointed that you weren't careful. She'll be more upset if you don't tell her the truth and get hurt worse because of it."

The house elf let Helen down from the floating spell and the girl stood in the middle of the kitchen clutching her hand. She shifted her weight from foot to foot as her eyes bore into the polished cherry floor. What was going to happen to her? She had disobeyed not once, but twice now.

Helen tried to contemplate the consequences, but the throbbing caused her to rush from the kitchen towards the one person she knew could make it better. Kippy shook her head knowingly as she finished the dinner.

**-x-**

Aquila was sitting the library window sill watching the snowfall as she waited for Kippy to finish dinner. Her thoughts wandered to the little girl in her house elf's care. Helen was growing up to be a beautiful girl full of creativity and intelligence, but her rash behavior before considering herself or others was beginning to start a dangerous pattern of carelessness. Just last week, the girl had tried to climb a twenty foot tree in an attempt to pet a squirrel she had seen scamper up its' boughs. Helen had gotten about two feet off the ground before Aquila had stopped her.

'She is going to be the death of me.' She thought idly as she looked off into the deep, dark woods surrounding the property.

Just then the doors of the study burst open with the crying five year old running over to her caretaker. Aquila rose fluidly from the sill and crouched down with her arms open to the little girl. Helen buried her head into the woman's shoulder as her body heaved with shaky tearful breaths.

"Breathe, love." She coaxed as she picked up her charge and walked towards the bathroom. Her brow furrowed in concentration as she tried to determine the cause of Helen's unrest.

Helen took smaller, steadier breaths as she took in the calming scent of lavender, rosemary, and mint Aquila always seemed to exude. She knew the woman would make it better, it would be okay now.

The short trip to the bathroom seemed to be enough time for the crying to stop and for the child to breathe for which Aquila was extremely grateful. She set the much calmer toddler upon the bathroom counter as she wet a small washcloth from the basin.

"What is a matter, child?" She inquired as she washed away the sticky tears and mucus from Helen's puffy face.

Helen rose her small hand and showed her the large splotchy blistered skin. The witch placed down the rag and grasped her arm tenderly as she evaluated the damage. Helen winced as Aquila turned her hand over at different angles to examine the wound. After some time the woman let go of the child's wrist and pulled her dark wand from her sleeve.

"_Accio_ burn-healing paste."A small brown jar whizzed across the house and into the witch's outstretched hand. "While I apply this, why don't you tell me how it happened?"

Helen sniffled and recounted her tale of black brooms and fuzzballs as Aquila worked quickly to get the yellowish paste on the burn. As the cream set in the blister faded into nothing more than a small red mark that would disappear within the hour.

Helen gasped as she moved her hand around, it certainly looked much better. It only seemed to sting a little as she moved it and compared to the burning sensation earlier, that was nothing at all. Her face lit up with glee at the idea of not ever having to go through such a thing again. However, when she looked up at her caregiver's face, her smile dropped.

Aquila, despite her relief and happiness at her charge's recovery, had put on a stern mask. This was the exact sort of reckless thing she had been so worried about earlier. The girl had absolutely no sense of self preservation. It just wouldn't do. Not when so many people had died for her.

The older woman's heart cracked a little as she thought of Lily and James. They had been as much her own as Pura had been and now as Helen was. She hadn't told Helen of her parents' demise. She had agreed she would wait until the child was old enough.

However, the tale of the dream of the black broomstick disturbed her. That was no broomstick, it was most certainly a motorbike and the creature upon it sounded like the Hogwarts' groundskeeper, Rubeus Hagrid. From the details she had managed to scrape up about that fateful night, it seemed to line up; if Helen's memories were coming forward, it would be better to tell the girl sooner rather than later.

Her face softened as she plopped the young girl back onto the floor. She reached for Helen's hand and the child grabbed it greedily, but with confusion.

"Come, I wish to show you something." Aquila led her into the third floor of the house. This was where her Pura had kept her rooms and where Lily had stayed for a time. She hadn't been up here since that night, but it seemed Helen and she would both face their histories this night.

She opened the mahogany door with a small creek and let go of Helen's hand.

Helen stepped into the room hesitantly. Perhaps this was where she was going to be kept from now on? Perhaps her caregiver didn't want to see her any longer because she couldn't behave? She frowned at the thought, but as she began to look around, her thoughts quieted.

The room was a dark gold with a black wood crowned along the top and the bottom. The floor was covered in a thick plush red carpet that matched the four poster's coverings. There was a small dark desk covered in books and quills and rolls of parchment that spilled on to the floor. In the large window there sat several plants that had since overgrown their pots. The room seemed familiar to Helen, but she couldn't place where from. It seemed to radiate the smell of cinnamon, vanilla, and apple.

"What is this place?" The girl asked as she ran her freshly healed hand along a large leather trunk.

"This," Aquila choked on her words for a moment, "Was your mother's room. When she stayed here, of course."

"My mother?" Helen's eyes widened. She knew she had a mother and she knew Aquila wasn't a blood relation, but rather a guardian. The woman had never told her anything about her parents before, other than she looked very much like her mother, but had her father's coloring and hair.

"Yes. Now I know I have told you that when you were older I would explain about your parents and why you've come to live with me, but now I think it is time." There was a strange quiver in her voice that seemed uncharacteristic.

Helen stared at the woman intently focusing on what she had to say.

"Your parents loved you very much." She began, "When you were born, they lived in a small village not very far from here called Godric's Hollow. Your father, James, was an Auror for the Ministry and worked to stop very bad men from hurting good people."

"Like you and me?" Helen asked and Aquila nodded.

"Your mother, Lily, stayed at home and took care of you mostly. However, she was constantly researching new spells. If I remember correctly, she had a special affinity for charms. Remember how I showed you the featherlight charm earlier this week?"

It was now Helen's turn to nod as she sat gingerly on the carpet, afraid to ruin anything that had once been her mother's.

"Now, when you a little shy of two years old, a bad man attacked your parents and you."

"Why?!" Helen exclaimed in outrage. Why would they hurt her family?

"Because your parents had something very special that no one else in the world had."

"What was it?" Helen whispered. What could be so valuable somebody would attack her parents? Maybe jewels or gold?

"It was you." Aquila replied sadly.

"They attacked my family because of me?" She whispered even more quietly and her eyes began to well with tears.

"I'm afraid so."

"Why didn't my father stop him, the bad man? You said that was what he did, he stopped bad people." Helen said as fat tears began to roll down her cheeks. She knew, even without her caregiver saying, she was the reason her parents weren't here.

"He tried. James fought valiantly, but the bad man was much stronger. Your mother," Aquila paused to calm her own nerves and wipe away Helen's tears. "Lily, was clever. She had found a way to protect you - to keep the bad man from being able to touch you, but she had to give herself to do so."

She knelt beside the distraught little girl. Helen buried her face into the witches' robes and cried for what seemed like an eternity for the two of them.

"Did somebody get him?" Helen croaked as she lifted her puffy face from the woman's side.

"Who, child?" Aquila implored.

"The bad man. Did somebody get him?"

"Oh yes, somebody got him. Do you know who?" Helen shook her head, "It was you."

"Me?" Helen stared at Aquila in wonder. "I stopped him?"

"Yes and you're very famous for it as well. They call you the girl-who-lived. Which honestly, I think is a ridiculous title, but it's one you'll have to live with." She joked lightly and half-heartedly. "You had a scar right above your brow from it, but I had it removed when you were young.

Helen didn't respond, but rather stared at the floor processing all she had been told. Her parents were gone forever because of this bad man - because of her. They had protected her. In return she had gotten rid of the bad man, but was that enough? They would have been happy and okay without her. Was she really worth both of them?

"What if he comes back and tries to get you?!" Helen suddenly questioned in panic. She couldn't have another person leave because of her.

"Well," Aquila paused. She had often thought of the possibility, but was it time to tell the child that? Her grey eyes interlocked with green. They searched each other for a few moments, "I imagine that it would be very hard to find us, but even if he did I know that it would be okay."

"How?"

"Because we would run and if we had to fight, I would make sure you were safe. No matter what. I love you, Helen." Aquila had spoken the words she had dared not utter aloud before to her charge. She had kept her distance, afraid to be hurt again, but something about this place and about her had changed that. Somehow, this little creature had found her way through those walls.

"I love you too." Helen pounced on to her guardian and beamed. Love. This was love. Somehow, knowing that made it seem like they would be okay. That everything would be fine, forever.


End file.
